The 2024 season for the Buffalo Bills will be a tough year for the Bills' new-look defense under new defensive coordinators Bobby Babich and Sean McDermott. For the purpose of this article, we are looking at the 5 best quarterbacks that the Bills will face, but there are 9 altogether that are challenging.
Two of them are in the AFC East alongside the Bills, which are in the honorable mentions. Altogether, the schedule for these Bills does look tough, not just from facing certain quarterbacks, but the team as a whole. Let's take a look at these honorable mentions, then get right into these 5 quarterbacks that could present a lot of problems for the Bills.
Honorable Mentions- Aaron Rodgers, Brock Purdy, Tua Tagovailoa, Trevor Lawrence
As mentioned, the two quarterbacks in the AFC East are Tua Tagovailoa and Aaron Rodgers. Tagovailoa has presented problems with these Bills in the past, but the Bills get the better of them most of the time. Rodgers is an unknown for how good he can be considering the one and only game he played against the Bills as a Jet was 4 snaps, which led to a torn Achilles that took Rodgers out for the rest of the year.
Even with Rodgers being one of the better quarterbacks in the past 15 years, he may not live up to expecations for the Jets. Brock Purdy was just in the Super Bowl, but he has his limitations. Those limitations are shadowed by how good of a roster around him he has. Even with his limitations, he still is an above average quarterback that can present problems.
The last mention is Trevor Lawrence, who hasn't lived up to the #1 overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft just yet, but there is no doubt he has had some moderate success. The Jaguars have gotten the best of the Bills the last two times they have played with Lawrence under center, so there should be some caution in facing Lawrence and those Jaguars.
5. C.J. Stroud, Week 5
C.J. Stroud had a phenomenal rookie season tallying up 4,108 passing yards, 23 touchdowns, and only 5 interceptions. Along with this, his postseason numbers in just 2 games are pretty good as well, even though in the second game he underperformed against the Ravens defense in the Divisional Round.
With the success of Stroud in his rookie season, it only makes sense he'll build on that, along with all of their offseason additions including Stefon Diggs, Joe Mixon, and the promising young receiving core of Nico Collins and Tank Dell. The reason why he is not higher on this list because he is unproven just yet, the potential for a "sophomore slump" and even though he has a bunch of new players to help continue his ascension, he has to also get on the same page as these players as well.
There is no doubt that Stroud will be a tough opponent to face against this Bills defense, but he has yet to face this Sean McDermott-led defense which typically performs well against younger quarterbacks. What is surprising is that this game is the "Stefon Diggs revenge game" but it is in the 1:00 PM EST time slot.
4. Matt Stafford, Week 14
This might be controversial to have Stafford on this list and to not have Rodgers, but there is some merit to this. Stafford didn't have his best game against the Bills the last time he faced them as a member of the Rams in 2022, but he had an underwhelming season in total.
He dealt with some injuries that forced him to miss some of that season, but he regained some of his youth in 2023. He led this young Rams team to a playoff appearance last year, and he has an outstanding duo of wide receivers in Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua. Along with these wide receivers, he also has a stud running back in Kyren Williams.
The Rams will miss the loss of Aaron Donald to retirement, but that defensive line is young and hungry. So there is no doubt that this Rams team will be a problem, and if Stafford stays relatively healthy, he can make some noise in the matchup against the Bills this season.
3. Jared Goff, Week 15
Having two of the 5 top quarterbacks back-to-back is tough, especially late in the season. Jared Goff had a good game against these Bills in 2022 on Thanksgiving, and this Lions team has only gotten better around him.
Not only have the Lions gotten better around Goff, he also has improved his game. He led this young Lions team to not only a divisional title for the NFC North, the first time since 1993 but also led them to the NFC Championship.
If Goff continues this trend, he could be in contention for Top 5 quarterback in this league. His 2023 season backs up this by having 4,575 passing yards, 30 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions. He also led this team to a week one season opener win against the back-to-back Super Bowl champions in the Kansas City Chiefs this past season. Goff can continue this trend in 2024, which could mean a big headache for Sean McDermott come Lions week.
2. Lamar Jackson, Week 4
Lamar Jackson has been a top 5 quarterback in not just the AFC, but also the entire league. Even though his play had dropped off after his 2019 MVP season, he rose back to his previous MVP form in 2023.... by winning the MVP. He has played with sub-par weapons his entire career, which means he had to carry this offense the entire time.
In the 2023 season we had seen Lamar with some talent in some key offensive talent positions outside of his favorite target in Mark Andrews, and that Ravens defense was scary good. Now with adding the threat at running back with Derrick Henry, this offense seems to be poised for an even bigger leap.
If Lamar can stay healthy all season like he did in 2023, this will be a tough task for the Bills. With all of this being said, the Bills and Sean McDermott have found a way to slow down Jackson enough to win their most recent matchups, including the 2020 AFC Divisional Round win against Jackson and the Ravens. Hopefully, these Bills they can repeat the same outcome as Week 4 in 2022 where they came out with a win in a nail-biter against Jackson and the Ravens.
1. Patrick Mahomes, Week 11
This list would be null and void if Patrick Mahomes was not at number one and for good reason as well. He has been the best quarterback in his 7 years as a starter in this league not named Tom Brady before he retired. Even though he had a sub-par 2023 season, Mahomes still won when it mattered the most, in the Super Bowl.
Now, Sean McDermott has had regular season success against Mahomes and the Chiefs, but has failed to win against him in the postseason. Maybe this year will be the same with a potential 4th win against Mahomes. Although, it could be a rough go considering this Chiefs defense led by long tenured defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo has gotten significantly better, being one of the best defenses in the league for 2023.
I fully expect Mahomes to get back to form for the regular season considering the weapons around him have gotten better on paper, with the signing of Marquise "Hollywood" Brown and the drafting of Xavier Worthy. Along with these 2 receivers, he has a hammer of a running back in Isaiah Pacheco and one of the best offensive lines in the league.
This could be the year Mahomes gets the better of the Bills in the regular season for the first time since 2020. If that were to happen, they have the bye week to recover the week after before another tough team in the 49ers in Week 13.